The rumors continue to swirl around the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason. The majority of these rumors have swirled around quarterback Tom Brady’s future, or which big name free agent would come to Tampa to play with him. This latest one dominating the newsfeeds on the interweb is still about Brady, and who will replace him.
For those who haven’t heard yet, here’s an excerpt from our article on it.
Recently on “The Herd” hosted by the greatness that is Colin Cowherd the subject of 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo came up. Garoppolo’s contract is up after this season and with the 49ers recently drafting Trey Lance, the writing is on the wall for Garoppolo.
“You could bring him to Tampa behind Brady,” Cowherd stated. “Just say, ‘Hey, Kyle Trask isn’t ready next year, we are going to bring in Jimmy to back him up.’ I don’t know if the finances work, I haven’t looked at that. But to me, it would work solely because of Jimmy. I don’t know if Tom would like it, but Jimmy would be fine with it.”
While these comments were mere projection by Cowherd, it was inevitable that some other “media” member would soon and suddenly have a “source” that’s embedded “deep” within the 49ers and/or Jimmy Garoppolo camp.
Enter Dan Sileo
I know, a good portion of you are asking “who the hell” is Dan Sileo? And you wouldn’t be wrong, but those that do know of him, just collectively rolled their eyes. So who is Dan Sileo? Here’s a quick bio from Wikipedia,
“Daniel William Sileo is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at Maryland before transferring to Miami. He was drafted in the third round of the 1987 NFL supplemental draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is currently a sports radio host.”
Yes you read that right, he’s a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer now radio host of “The National Football Show” streaming on Jakib Sports. Here’s what Sileo said of his report of Garoppolo to Tampa Bay via trade.
Sileo: “I know Don Yee very well. Don Yee is the representative for Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo. That so-called angst between them in New England, that was made up by the media. Those two guys are dear friends. The animosity was more toward Bill Belichick than it was toward Garoppolo. Brady and Garoppolo text each other all the time and are friends. They have the same agent. Those two guys are in constant communication.”
“And Jimmy Garoppolo is not going to be ready for training camp. Who in their right mind thinks that Garoppolo is going to be in camp? He just started throwing two weeks ago. You think Garoppolo is going to be ready to go to training camp in two weeks when he just started throwing two weeks ago? He may be able to throw the ball around a little bit, but to go through organized scrimmages and then exhibition games? You’re out of your freaking mind.”
More from Sileo,
“This would be the ultimate slap in the face to Belichick if Brady retires and Garoppolo is the heir apparent, but they do it in Tampa and not New England. This was supposed to be the plan in New England, not in Tampa Bay.”
“So here’s what’s being thrown around. Don Yee doesn’t want to trade Garoppolo to a back up position. However, Garoppolo’s shoulder injury put him in that room. He’s not going to be ready for the start of the regular season in September. He probably will miss the first four games anyway.”
“Deshaun Watson’s news is going to dictate what happens to Garoppolo. Garoppolo has two teams on the table right now that are trying to throw some deals together. The Buccaneers would love to have Jimmy G in Tampa as the heir apparent. So Garoppolo would go to Tampa as the backup and once Brady leaves, there’s Jimmy G with a ready-made team again like he had in San Francisco and in New England. It’s a no-brainer.”
You can watch the Sileo video here.
Rick Stroud Has Entered The Chat
Shortly after Sileo’s report Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times was quick to unwind Sileo’s viral report.
“As one Bucs coach told me, ‘If (Garoppolo) could throw a deep ball, he would’ve won two Super Bowls already ”
Um. Not a chance fellas. As one Bucs coach told me, “If (Garoppolo) could throw a deep ball, he would’ve won two Super Bowls already.”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Reportedly Want to Trade for 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo – Sports Illustrated San Francisco 49er https://t.co/URlrHByIhg
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) July 9, 2022
Stroud with the proverbial mic drop might be the best thing so far this offseason. Well at least a close second. But then things got worse for Sileo, as a tweet by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reporting Garoppolo’s agent denied the report.
I asked #49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s agent, Don Yee, about Garoppolo’s shoulder, the status of trade talks and a radio host’s recent comments that the #Bucs had reached out about acquiring Jimmy G as the heir apparent (again) to Tom Brady. Yee’s response: pic.twitter.com/kINdUZR9qK
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 11, 2022
The rub here is, Stroud is “in the building” with deep connections. He’s spent years crafting relationships with the Buccaneers organization. Sileo to his credit is a former player who has been in the broadcast business in one form or another for quite awhile. Sileo is still insisting this trade is going to happen. Meanwhile Stroud has been silent sticking with his initial rebuttal and had Garoppolo’s agent confirm there’s no truth to this. I’ll let you decide who you want to believe.
For more on this and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com.